News Odisha

LEFT TO FEND HIMSELF

Bhubaneswar: Never did he imagine a time will come, he has to fend himself. He clipped the wings of those who he thought his challengers. His victims included his father’s colleagues, founders of the BJD, mentors and many other who built and nourished the party brick by brick.

Now, after 17 years of obstacle-free reign, - the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president Naveen Patnaik feeling the heat of opposition. Resurrection of the BJD in the state’s political arena as the second major force has started troubling the BJD leadership and Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik.

The BJD president, who in the past systematically kept his bête noires in the opposition BJP and Congress at the bay because of “good rapport” with their central leaders, is no longer in the same command as saffron party in the last three years has ceded its love for the BJD, - especially it got absolute majority in the Lok Sabha elections and its strength in Rajya Sabha increased enabling the party to pass crucial legislations without support of the regional parties.

On the eve of 1998 Lok Sabha polls, the BJD and BJP had forged an alliance that lasted for nearly two decades. The two parties broke away in 2009 on the eve of Assembly and Lok Sabha polls over the seat sharing issue. The saffron party, which considered as its most obedient partner as he clung onto to it even as other partners like TMC and AIADMK broke away, - was hurt when Naveen severed ties dubbing it as “communal.”

The Odisha CM’s decision to go alone in 2014 polls proved right as he got a record number of 117 seats in state Assembly and 20 Lok Sabha seats, beating his previous best of 103 Assembly seats and 19 Lok Sabha seats.

A few months after the elections, Naveen found the increase in his party’s strength in state legislature and Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha (BJD has got 10 of state’s 10 seats in Rajya Sabha seats), had in reality added no extra power to it.

Looking for an opportunity to avenge the 2009 humiliation and, - the BJP led by Union petroleum and natural gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan began to play the tricks. The saffron party stopped the ruling BJD from claiming and branding the subsidised Re 1 per kg rice scheme and 101 Ambulance facility as its own and awakened the people through massive campaigning about the “mischief.”

Following the state BJP leaders’ clamour for expediting the CBI probe into the chit fund scam, three of its top leaders - Lok Sabha member Ramachandra Hansda, MLA Prabhat Kumar Tripathy and former MLA Subarna Naik – were arrested.

The BJP rolled out its own programmes to have direct interface with the voters. Buoyed by its 40 lakh successful membership drive, the BJP it launched Central government programmes across the state inviting dozens of Union ministers.

Initially, Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik was invited to such programme. Later, as he apparently discovered these programmes were meant for BJP’s promotion, - he started skipping them.

The CM did not attend two major crucial Union government programmes like the inauguration of a mega food park at Rayagada and unveiling LNG terminal and Dhamra Port. In place of the CM, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the poster boy BJP, launched these two programmes as chief guest, sending out a strong signal to the BJD that the BJP was no longer concerned about the official propriety but valued the political necessity.

Daggers drawn, the regional outfit and the BJP are out to cross the swords again in the 2018 urban local body polls which will be second indicator of the mood of the people after the February rural polls which catapult the BJP from third position to second position in state politics.

By A K SAHOO

29/09/2017

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